NARRATIVE PARADIGM

Narrative Paradigm

by EBALE & SERAPION

The Narrative Paradigm Theory talks about how human beings are story-telling animals. We favor stories over hard facts and evidences. Humans reason based on science, history and personal values. In this theory, there are two individuals involved. The first would be the story-teller or the narrator and the second would be the listener or the audience. The narrator tells a story to the audience and the audience listens to the story. The objective of the narrator is to present his/her story in a way that the audience can easily understand. On the other hand, the objective of the audience is to verify whether or not the story is legitimate and genuine.

Q1. What are the main principles/points of Narrative Paradigm?

The main principles are coherence and fidelity. When you talk about coherence in the Narrative Paradigm Theory, this talks about how easily understandable the story is. The story should be easily understandable and to achieve this, the story should be: well-structured, straightforward and for lack of a better term, “on-point”. The story should be coherent so the audience can easily understand the story. Next would be Fidelity. Fidelity in the Narrative Paradigm Theory states that the stories being told should be credible. It is up to the narrator to make sure that the story he/she is telling is reliable and trustworthy. The story should be credible so the audience can ensure themselves that they can trust the story and where the story is coming from.

Q2. How is the Narrative Paradigm different from Constructivism Paradigm?

Narrative Paradigm talks about how the world is made up of different stories and it’s up to us to choose which story is right or not. On the other hand, Constructivism Paradigm states that the world is made up of social constructs and these social constructs are based on people’s experiences so it is up to us to judge whether or not we adhere to these social constructs or believe in something entirely different.

Q3. Using Narrative Paradigm, write about “The Philippines at present”.

“The Philippines at Present”

The Philippines is a very “ma-chikka” country. When we say “ma-chikka”, we’re talking about how Filipinos love to gossip and when an issue or a topic is presented to them, people have different stories to tell. When people tell the stories that they want to tell, sometimes it goes to the extent that the story they are telling is wrong and they don’t bother to know if their story is right. They strongly believe in their knowledge and highly disregard opinions from other people. A prime example would be how people readily believe fake news. Some Filipinos don’t bother to check whether or not this news is reliable and if it is coming from a reliable source.

Using the Narrative Paradigm Theory, we can assume that Filipinos values their own knowledge and their own beliefs too much to the point that they turn a blind eye to what is real and authentic. Therefore, people should consider coherence and fidelity when telling stories and listening to stories. We shouldn’t be fooled by fake news and fake stories. Let’s be vigilant to information that is presented to us.